Charles Denike projects cool and calm, and carries the air of someone who can handle business if things start to go sideways. There’s also a sense that he’s not one to be fazed by someone else’s nonsense.
Denike, then, is an ideal NASCAR crew chief. For some, he’s only now becoming more of a household name – or at least more familiar – in that role for Bubba Wallace as 23XI Racing.
But he was winning races while flying under the radar over the last five years in the Craftsman Truck Series at McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Most recently, Denike guided Christian Eckes to eight wins between 2022 and 2023, and back-to-back top-five finishes in the championship standings.
On Sunday at Darlington Raceway, the Virginia native’s straightforwardness could be heard on the No. 23 radio. In the second stage, Wallace had a stint where he went from running inside the top five to eighth place. There was a radio communication during which Wallace appeared to say everything was fine.
Denike, on the channel heard by the spotter and not the driver, disagreed. His response was, “We’re not fine if we’re bleeding five spots. So, we’re going to keep pushing.”
His background might have something to do with such personality traits.
“I went into the military after college,” Denike said.
There is no one answer as to why Denike chose that route. On one hand, he says, he saw it as an opportunity to travel. But also, his father served in Vietnam, which Denike found to be a natural inspiration.
An engineer officer in the U.S. Army, some of what Denike did was underwater search and salvage, and later in his career, work in logistics. He served in Haiti after a devastating earthquake and in Afghanistan, earning a Bronze Star during the latter.
So NASCAR is Denike’s second career. It wasn’t until he left the Army after nine years (in 2012) that he wanted to give it a go, and the change wasn’t out of the blue. Denike grew up next to a family who raced short tracks, including against one of his now-bosses, Denny Hamlin.
“I had always stayed involved and I was always interested in it,” Denike said. “I took classes for it in college. I grew up next to a family who raced, and when I was about 11 years old is when we moved next door to this family that raced. So I grew up going to the garage next door and working on cars from a young age. (I) reached a point in my military career and perhaps it could have been if I was in a different career path as well, that you say, alright, I feel like I’m going to regret not pursuing this other venture more than I would staying in my current venture.”
Denike started by working for the Gdovic family in Virginia on their K&N Pro Series team. It took a few years before Denike moved to North Carolina, and soon he was rising through the ranks. GMS Racing, which closed after the 2023 season but was a dominant force in its heyday, hired Denike first as an engineer in 2016 before eventually giving him his first opportunity to be a crew chief in 2020.
Chase Elliott is the driver of record with whom Denike won his first race with as a crew chief at Charlotte Motor Speedway in late May. But there are no photos to show for it due to the COVID restrictions that were in force at the time.
“The celebration was kind of anticlimactic, and we still joke about it regularly,” Denike said. “There was nobody in the stands. We weren’t allowed to go in victory lane. So, Chase drove the truck over into victory lane and got out, ‘Woo,’ and we’re, like, behind the fence line. Behind the chainlink fence. We couldn’t even go in there to celebrate. But it is what it is. I’ll take winning that way than not winning, any time.”
It wasn’t until he won at Bristol Motor Speedway in September with Sam Mayer that Denike was able to celebrate in victory lane. The normal celebration, photos, and beer spray did take place that night.